What happens when you clean a totem in Dead by Daylight?

If you’re playing as a survivor in Dead by Daylight, you’re bound to come across a small bone structure called a totem sooner or later. These skull and stick combinations are hidden in the corners of each map and help the Killer with one of the Hex perks or Survivors with a Boom perk equipped to make life a little harder for each other.

Related: How to use witches in Dead by Daylight

How do totems work in Dead By Daylight?

There are three different totems that you can come across in Dead By Daylight. The first is the hex totem. The ignited fire at the base of the totem means it is linked to a Killer’s Hex perk. If the fire isn’t burning, you’ve found a blunt totem. A blunt totem doesn’t mean the killer doesn’t have a hex perk equipped, as five totems will spawn early in the game and another totem could potentially have a hex equipped.

The third type of totem you can see is a blessing totem. These are covered with a blue light and are created by survivors with a boon perk who find totems and bless them. Survivors gain bonuses when within range of their area, and Killers can wipe them out when they find them. Boon perks play a sound when active. Survivors cannot purify boon totems.

Approaching a totem as a survivor will prompt you to purify (or bless if you have a boon perk equipped). While interacting with it, you won’t have to complete any skill checks, but you’ll remain stationary for a while.

When you purify a totem, you essentially take that totem off the field. When finished, the totem will fall apart with no chance of coming back unless the killer uses the Hex: Pentimento perk. You can revive them at this point. When you purify a hex totem, there’s a good chance you’ve just nullified one of the killer’s advantages for the rest of the game. With the exception of the Immortal Hex (which takes on a blunt totem when destroyed) all Hex perks require a totem to survive. A blunt totem has no sorcery, but can still be cleansed to prevent immortal sorcery from taking over, and the survivor gains blood points for doing so.

In most cases, it’s really important that you cleanse a totem when you see it, especially when it’s lit. The main reason for this is that it slightly nerfs the killer in a way they usually can’t recover from. Certain hexes will affect you as you purge them, so take a risk if you come across one, but overall it’s generally worth the risk of being exposed or slowing down your purge speed over the long run of the game.